Here’s the deal. We were flipping through a great racing book recently, so nicely done that its original print run almost immediately sold out. It’s “Sharon Speedway: The First 50 Years,” by Ronald Pollock of Niles, Ohio. Among the numerous photos in the book is this John Stasiak image showing a car that ought to be the textbook definition of a stock car. This is the Late Model in which George Buccella of Mineral Ridge, Ohio, won his first feature on August 24, 1968. It’s a full-size GM bubbletop, billed as a 1961 Chevrolet, which is rare enough. But look at the those rear fender ends. Doesn’t the tucking imply Buick to you? It did to us, even though Ron assured us that the “Snoopy Special” was indeed a Chevy when we called him.

Sharon Speedway, in Hartford, Ohio, right on the Pennsylvania border, started out as a paved speedway before reverting to dirt, and is still running hard. It’s owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dave Blaney, whose father, Lou, was a Sharon legend in supermodifieds. His uncle, Bob Blaney, actually finished second to Buccella in the August 24 feature. Pollock is now working on a history of Midget racing in Ohio.

I certainly see the family resemblence here. When I first opened the photo, I thought I was looking at a ’61 Olds. I know Pontiac also had this body style as well.
I think it is also interesting to think about the use of the “Snoopy Special” and the image of Snoopy on the car. I don’t know who currently has the rights to the Schultz images, but I’d guess there would be a very expensive price today to paint these on a car. In those days probably nobody thought much about it.

It is indeed a 61 chevy. I was on the pit crew for Butch (George) for many years, although, i was still a kidfollowing this car. His car always carried “snoopy” on the side and also carried either lavender or plum crazy. It was a tribute to his Uncle George. In fact, Butch’s son still carries the same Snoopy on his car. His cars were a big inspration in me doing signs. I was thrilled when Ron told me someone had interest in this picture. I always knew Butch’s cars were some of the sharpest around, and this definitely represents that well. This car didn’t look like this long. Running dirt on the 1/4′s at Sharon and Canfield wasn’t condusive to a straight car.
Btw, Butch also had a 61 with the wrap around back window. There weren’t many of those either.